


Be More (Un)Natural

by TheArtisticIntrovert



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Original Work
Genre: OC insert, blame my friend he's the one who suggested this au, max is from my sci-fi trilogy When We Hold A Grudge, zero/max's squip is nonbinary don't let chapter 1 fool you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 05:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10984365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArtisticIntrovert/pseuds/TheArtisticIntrovert
Summary: Maxwell Mohr was no stranger to the invasive curiosity of teenage strangers. Constantly fielding questions about his height, his hair, and his lack of an arm, he was honestly tired of it. He wished he could fade into obscurity.......or maybe be strong enough to just fight back instead. Maybe if he was stronger, maybe if he was meaner, maybe if he was just......more, people would leave him alone.Maybe that’s why he stole the money from his mom’s purse. Maybe that’s why he went to the Payless in the mall. Maybe that’s why he decided to get the squip.





	Be More (Un)Natural

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bandtrees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandtrees/gifts).



> that title is seriously subject to change i just wanted to get this posted and i'm too sick to think of a proper one

Maxwell Mohr was no stranger to the invasive curiosity of teenage strangers. Constantly fielding questions about his height, his hair, and his lack of an arm, he was honestly tired of it. He wished he could fade into obscurity.......or maybe be strong enough to just fight back instead. Maybe if he was stronger, maybe if he was meaner, maybe if he was just...... _more,_ people would leave him alone.

 

Maybe that’s why he stole the money from his mom’s purse. Maybe that’s why he went to the Payless in the mall. Maybe _that’s_ why he decided to get the squip.

 

He was sweaty and guilty the entire way to the mall, constantly checking his (silenced) phone to make sure his mom wasn’t about to drag him back to the house by his ear. When he finally got to the Payless, he was sure he’d sweated straight through his shirt. He bumped into the dude with the BOYF backpack, who looked equally sweaty. Max blinked, startled.

 

“Dude, you look freaked, is everything ok?” he asked, tilting his head. The other dude (Jesse? Jacob? J-something, definitely) jumped, laughing awkwardly.

 

“U-Uh, yeah....just....shoes...and stuff.” He cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. Max squinted suspiciously, pursing his lips.

 

“.....................right, well, okay. Enjoy your shoes, then...” he said, stepping out of the way. J-BOYF (yes that’s definitely his name, good going Max) walked off, drumming his fingers against his jeans pocket and muttering to himself. Max shook his head, heading into the store.

 

“Weirdo....” he muttered, looking around for the squip guy. He spotted him hovering in the back, helping this one girl find a pair of shoes. He decided to just kind of pretend to be browsing until she left.

 

Which she did, soon, luckily. Not without giving him a horrified and pitying look (the way her eyes lingered on his arm with something akin to hunger made him feel gross, honestly) of course, but still, she left, and the store was once more empty. He headed back to the stockboy, who rolled his eyes and got up, probably dreading talking about shoes for another fifteen minutes.

 

“Hey, welcome to Payless, what can I help ya with?” he asked. Max bit his lip, glancing at the door.

  
Still empty.

 

“U-Um....I heard from a guy at school....about something called a—” The stockboy held up a hand, cutting him off.

 

“You got the cash?” he asked. Max nodded mutely. The stockboy grinned sharply, eyes darting to the door. “Good. Four hundred, and it’s yours.” Max counted out four bills before pulling them from his pocket, handing it over. The guy shoved it in his pants pocket, grabbing a shoebox from under a desk behind him.

 

“I’ll give you the same warning I gave the last schmuck who came looking for one of these things. They’re not tested, and they ain’t exactly _legal,_ so don’t go shoutin’ around about it. You don’t know me, I don’t know you. I take no responsibility for what it does to you, or what you do with it. Clear?” he said gruffly. Max nodded again, taking the shoebox. He frowned when he saw the label, about to ask, when the stockboy rolled his eyes. “I know they say ladies running shoes, the pill’s inside the box. Just take it and don’t ask questions, ok?”

 

“Y-Yeah, alright....” Max said, peeking inside the box. Something in his chest tightened when he saw the little pill sitting inside, and he quickly closed the box again.

 

The Squip Dude looked to the door again before scratching one of his (frankly, quite impressive) sideburns and sighing. “Right, ok. Take it with Mountain Dew. Something about it activates the pill, but I dunno what, so _don’t ask._ All sales are final, now scram.” Max quickly ran out, stopping by a nearby vending machine to get a Mountain Dew with his own five, before finding a hidden alcove by the bathrooms.

 

“A squip, huh....” he muttered, propping the box on his arm so he could open it. He pulled the pill out, staring at it for a minute, before shrugging and sitting it on his tongue. He quickly wrestled the Mountain Dew bottle open, taking a big swig and coughing slightly as the bubbles hit his throat weird.

 

He was kind of expecting something......sci-fi-ish.....to happen, but nothing weird occurred at all. Barring the coughing fit and weird minty flavor, that is. He rolled his eyes, sipping the Mountain Dew and leaning back against the wall. “Well, Mom’s gonna kill me. I just blew four hundred bucks on nothing...” he grumbled.

 

Suddenly, it felt like his head was on fire. He yelped, squeezing his eyes shut and dropping the soda in favor of clutching his head.

 

_Accessing: Neural Memory. Accessing: Muscle Memory. Accessing Procedure: Complete. Maxwell Mohr....._

 

Through the haze of pain, he saw a figure appear in front of him. He shook his head, gritting his teeth and straightening up. He blinked, then blinked again, sure he was just dreaming. In front of him stood a near-perfect copy of himself, except the copy was taller, with an angry glint in his eye where Max only held exhaustion.

 

_.......Welcome, to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor. Your SQUIP._

 

Max blinked, shaking away the last lingering bits of pain, shoving them down with the residual twinges from his arm, to be ignored until he could get his hands on some pain pills. “You look like a taller, scarier me,” he said, then immediately cringed.

 

The copy....no, the SQUIP grinned, narrowing his eyes. “Yes. Was that not the intention?” he asked, tilting his head. Max bit his lip, then chuckled, shaking his head.

 

“You got me there. Hey, just out of curiosity, can everyone see you?” he asked. The SQUIP shook his head, smirking.

 

“No. If they can see you, all they see is you talking to yourself. By the way, you may want to stop that.” He blinked, straightening his head and adopting a neutral expression once more. Max nodded, brushing his bangs away from his face.

 

“Alright, then. Can I talk to you any other way?” he asked, tucking them behind his ear. The SQUIP nodded, crossing his arms.

 

“Just think at me, like you’re telepathic,” he said. Max nodded, deciding he had nothing left to lose, even if this was just a hallucination.

 

 _“Like this?”_ he thought. The SQUIP nodded, grinning widely.

 

“Yes, exactly like that. Now, come on. It’s time I taught you how to be.......meaner.”

**Author's Note:**

> once again, blame ollie


End file.
